10 May Artful Gardens: Part I – Metasequoia Allee

As the world looks to Philadelphia to celebrate the collection of Albert and Laura Barnes, we also want to celebrate their appreciation of the art form of gardening. While Albert Barnes was assembling his paintings and other objets d’art in the 1920 and 30s, his wife Laura Barnes was given the responsibility of developing the garden. As the visual arts were the passion of Dr. Barnes, so horticulture was the passion of his wife. The 12 acre Arboretum was Laura’s living landscape, her ever-changing art gallery.

She recognized that gardening uses the trunks and stems of trees and shrubs to create structure; varies forms and shapes of leave and needles to evoke texture; while bursts of blooms and berries create pops of color. All these elements combine to “paint” the canvas of a garden.

The Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College in concert with Greater Philadelphia Gardens and With Art Philadelphia wants to celebrate garden as art with a series of videos depicting 5 of our most artful gardens. Glimpse how plants create structure, color, and texture in our “painting” of the landscape.

3 Comments

Diane Mattis

Thank you Diane. Your images, of course, really added to the piece. Thank you again for all that you share with us. Next week we hope to release Part 2 about the Scott Outdoor Amphitheater. Just in time for commencement.